Community Corner

Hundreds of Con Ed Workers Will Flood Neighborhood Parking

With two employee parking lots disappearing, utility workers will now hunt for parking on neighborhood streets.

Hundreds of additional drivers will begin competing for parking spots in already parking-challenged Park Slope and Gowanus tomorrow, when the lease runs out on a Con Ed parking lot that provides parking for employees on Sixth Street between Third and Fourth Avenue near its Gowanus facility.

The energy baron says it’s pulling the plug on the parking perk as a cost-cutting measure – and next month will expire the lease on yet another employee parking lot between First and Third streets, sending something in the neighborhood of 400 additional drivers hunting for parking on the streets. Con Ed spokesman Allan Drury said the company hopes employees will instead utilize public transportation, which is subsidized by the company.

But utility workers said that using public transportation is unrealistic for countless employees – many of whom commute from Staten Island, Queens and Long Island and frequently work up to 16-hour days, arriving on the job before dawn.

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“We don’t think this neighborhood should have the undue burden of us driving around, looking for parking,” said utility worker Vinny Kyne, at a recent rally in front of Community Board 6 meeting, encouraging the company to restore the lots. “I’m commuting from Long Island, public transportation just isn’t realistic.

Harry Farrell, president of Utility Workers Union Local 1-2, emphasized that many of the workers are first responders and need places to park during emergencies like last year’s post-Christmas blizzard – when public transportation was out of commission.

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Locals were peeved to learn that the quest for parking will soon become even more difficult.

“There’s not going to be enough parking. There’s already not enough parking,” said Chris Stylianou, owner of Third Avenue car dealership. Stylianou said he already spends at least 20 minutes circling the neighborhood in search of parking.

The union is in talks with Con Ed to potentially utilize other company properties in the area for employee parking, but Drury said the chances of that happening are slim.

“We’re cutting costs to cut costs for our customers,” said Drury. “We stepped up those efforts recently due to the economy. This is a cost we want to relieve customers of.”

He added: “We are aware that the availability of parking in the area is a concern for neighbors, but we think employees will use public transportation or other lots in the neighborhood, if they have to drive.”


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